When I participate in Twitter chats, a common question people ask each other is “how do you stay organized” and so I decided to share my methods with everyone (not that anyone asked me specifically). Normally, I post this sort of thing as a guide but I wanted more interaction and felt like a post would be better.
I’ve separated this post into the various sources I use: library (Part 1), ARCs/requests (Part 2) and purchases (Part 3–today) as well as scheduling posts (Part 4–tomorrow). Each part will be posted over the next four days.
Part 3: Purchases
Since 2011 when I purchased my first Kobo eReader (RIP my purple Kobo Touch), I’ve really only bought eBooks. Part of it was the fact that they were so much cheaper and the other part was that they don’t take up any physical space so it was a win-win. I do buy the occasional hardback book but that’s really only for series that I plan on sharing with my hypothetical children one day…
But when books are cheap and they don’t take up space, it’s hard to stop yourself from buying them all the time. I’ve definitely curbed my book buying addiction over the years but I’ve accumulated a TON of books over the years between freebies and bulk coupon purchases.
Besides the actual libraries on my Kobo and Kindle devices, I keep track of everything via an Excel spreadsheet.
Of course I have colour coded everything (as you can see from my legend) as I break down books based on their source (purchased or free), the books I have and whether they are series or standalone. Not seen here, but I also keep track of the books that are for my Kindle and Kobo.
You might have noticed that I have “Hearts” and “Clubs” are beside the categories and this because I used to use a random card generator to decide where my next book should come from. Now, I have a nifty TBR Jar:
Now I have all my books on paper stars that I use to decide what purchased books I should read next. Every two months, I create new stars for my purchases and add them to the jar. This jar is mainly how I choose what TBR items are going to count towards my Rock My TBR challenge as well as when I need a new book to read for fun.
Once a book is read, I remove it from the list and my jar (hopefully, if I actually pulled it out in the first place) and continue on. Compared to my other lists, this one is pretty chill and not as regularly updated because I’ve been successful in curing my eBook spending habits.
There you have it! Join me tomorrow when I explain how I schedule my blog posts.
Do you have a specific way for keeping track of your purchases?
Let me know below!
Connect: 
